Lost
by Dan-kun
Summary: A lone white pikmin is trapped in the darkness for one full night. What happens when one is left behind? Rated for some violence.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This was actually the first of my two fanfics that I ever wrote. The other, "We are all so very doomed" is in FFCC. This…is actually one I'm not too proud of…but here goes…

Disclaimer: I do not own Pikmin! There! You happy, game designers? …Of course your happy, your always high…

Chapter 1: Nightfall

18:00 – The last whistle of the day sounded ordering all of us pikmin to go to our "onions" as our leader, Olimar, called them. Purples and my fellow whites go to the vessel that Olimar came in, because we don't have "onions". I had tripped and fallen over a rock on our way back to base and fell behind. Still lying on the ground, I watched in horror as all four crafts lifted into the sky with a roar, leaving me behind with my impending doom at hand.

None of us have ever survived being left behind at nightfall. Ever since the first one was left, I have kept a tally…fourteen reds, eight yellows, ten blues, four purples and two…sigh…make that three whites have died by being forgotten over the course of forty two days. I don't want to die. I am really quite the coward, and I'm not afraid to admit it. Sometimes, I'd stumble or stop to catch my breath on purpose so I wouldn't have to fight monsters.

It's a strange feeling…knowing your going to die, and being a coward doesn't help. Shivering in the cold, I waited for something to happen. I heard a rustling in the bushes nearby…or maybe it was just the wind? Either way, I was terrified! Standing as still as possible, I saw a small, shadowy figure emerging from the brush, and small by our standards is pretty small, for are usually the smallest creatures around. As it stared at me I started to back away slowly, until…

A horrifying sound struck my ears; a loud, high pitched barking that came from behind me. I jumped about as high as a yellow pikmin (they are the best jumpers I know) in shock. Five. There were five of them. Five drooling, red-with-white-spots backed, stalk eyed, hungry creatures known as "dwarf bulborbs" were barking, ready to devour me. "Dwarf" isn't necessarily the word a pikmin would use, for they are twice our height and five times our weight. However, they appeared dwarfed by what was behind them. Two "red bulborbs" were behind them. They were identical, except for the fact that they were ten times bigger than the "dwarf" ones. Usually, when we come across one, they are fast asleep. Unfortunately for me, they are nocturnal, so they were all wide awake and drooling at the sight of a tasty morsel.

I screamed bloody murder as they advanced. Arms flailing, I ran in the opposite direction, into the bushes. I think I'll take my chances with the creature I saw earlier.

Just before I reached it though, my foot hit air. I went tumbling down a small hole and landed with a thud on the damp, earthen floor. When I looked around, I saw that I was in a fairly sizable tunnel. There were two passages; one that lead left, and one that lead right. Since a faint rumbling was coming from the right, I took left out of cowardness. I couldn't stay where I was, because it was now raining bulborb saliva due to the fact that all seven of them tried to come down the hole after me at once.

A/N: Eh? Eh? …Tell me what ya thought. Read and review.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Snargrets den

19:00 – I followed the cave for about an hour until I came to a fork in the road. Since I had inferred vision, I could see that the left tunnel was empty, while a few feet into the right tunnel was an enormous, golden beak that was opening and closing and squawking angrily. It dawned on me. This was a snargret's burrow. These giant creatures were half bird and half snake. They usually popped out of the ground when they sensed movement overhead, and devoured whatever it was, usually a pikmin…

There was a loud banging sound coming from behind it, as if it were flailing. I chuckled to myself a bit. Can you imagine that? A snargret stuck in its own burrow! Ha-ha! I took the left road. About fifteen steps in, I smelled something familiar. Fresh air! Running at top speed, in high hopes, I certainly wasn't expecting what happened next.

A small twig broke under my weight. The cracking sounded much louder than it should have in the echoing cave. I stopped dead. Silence…a second passed…two seconds…three seconds. Finally, a tremendous crashing noise and the sound of rock breaking free, along with a rumbling and a loud squawking echoed across the previously silent cave. It had broken free and was chasing after the intruder in its home: me.

Even with my quick agility, I was no match for the blinding speed of that hideous snake-bird. Open beaked and speedily slithering its way toward me, there seemed no escape. Suddenly, there was a steep incline in the tunnel and I saw moonlight. My first mistake was stopping, but my second was forgetting about what chased me; thinking that it was over. The snargret burst out of the ground with such force, that I almost went flying strait into space. Spotting me, it opened its beak and struck at me, missing by about an inch. Seeing this opportunity, I grabbed the end of its beak and held on as I was swept upward. I was flung onto the snargret's face, my head being directly in line with its giant, yellow eye. Its pupil narrowed in disgust and it ruffled its blue and silver feathers. Staring it down wasn't going to help; I had to make it go away!

Pikmin usually fight with the stems on their heads, but this was an exception. I jammed my fist into its eyeball. Deep red blood sprayed all over me, making me look more like a red pikmin than a white one. The snargret wailed in pain and recoiled by flinging me into the air.

Landing on some sharp rocks, I painfully looked up to see the snargret diving back into the ground, never to be seen again. I glanced at my shoulder. Green-white blood oozed out o a gash down it. Lightning-bolt pain shot up arm. Barely able to crawl, I got a look at my surroundings.

I was lying at the edge of a small lake. Colossal flowers and branches surrounded this moonlit beauty of a lake. Many small, red eyes stared at me from the middle of it. _Wollywogs_ I thought to myself. I was glad I was too far away for them to hop all over me.

Faint footsteps sounded to my left. I turned to see a shadowy outline of a small creature; the same one I saw earlier. It slowly walked toward where I lay. I cowered in fear. After all I've been through, apparently, this was how I will die.

A/N: Read and Review, people.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Bulbmin

20:00 – "Are you okay?"

Well…that was certainly unexpected. I've got a monster staring me down, with no escape and no hope, and its first words are "are you okay?"! Insanity!

At first glance, this creature looked like just an extremely small version of a bulborb, even smaller than a "dwarf" bulborb, but after closer inspection, I saw that it had a leaf over it's head, just like I had. Well…since it spoke our language, it mustn't be too bad…

"What are you?" I asked.

"Do you really need to ask? I'm a pikmin, just like you!"

Huh? Now I'm not one to judge, but this guy couldn't be one of us. From its eyestalks to its spotted back, it resembled a bulborb more. Even it's voice was strange, it sounded very high pitched and kazoo-like. The only thing similar was the small leaf above its head.

"C'mon" it said, "Climb onto my back. It's not safe out here."

"Ya think? I nearly got my arm torn off!"

Crawling painfully onto it, I simply allowed myself to dangle sideways off of it, because I was too exhausted to sit up. "By the way" I inquired, "I still don't know what you are."

"Heh…your leader, Olimar, calls me and my kind 'Bulbmin'" the small creature replied.

"Bulbmin huh…wait! You know Olimar?"

"Yep. I first met him in a small cave lined with tile that he named the "Shower Room""

I recalled the name. I remember hearing something about that place from other pikmin who had returned. That was one of the few missions that I wasn't taken along with…drat!

We started away from the lake. If it hadn't been for the bumpy ride, I would have passed out from exhaustion. On and on we rode. Sometimes, we had to go around a place or take shortcuts, or longcuts because the path we were headed down was filled with monsters.

I was still questioning on whether or not to trust "bulbmin" or not. It didn't appear that I had a choice, and what did I have to lose? Still…

After what seemed like hours, we finally reached the shore of another small lake. Looking around for a second, and then looking at me, Bulbmin took a step in the water.

I almost screamed. Instead, I released a small squealing noise like a muffled scream. Bulbmin turned its eyestalks around to look at me. "What's wrong?"

"I can't swim!"

In fact, almost no pikmin I knew could swim. Most couldn't even stand water. The only ones who could truly swim were blue pikmin, because they had gills on their cheeks for breathing. This also made their voices sound really bubbly; like they were underwater.

Bulbmin didn't look surprised, nor worried. "Just stay on my back and hang on. The water doesn't look too deep, so you'll stay above water."

"…Okay…"

The pain in my arm had somewhat subsided, so I tried to sit up. Hanging on with my good arm, we waded into the pond.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The lake

21:00 – Slowly creeping along in the water, small ripples came off of us as we went. Looking down, I could see the stone littered bottom of the pond through its crystal clear water. I allowed my feet to glaze the surface…it was icy cold. I shivered at the thought of falling in.

Looking around at the vast beauty of the landscape, I watched a few wollypogs, as Olimar named them. I was always afraid of these creatures, until I watched a pack of blue pikmin chase after them. Wollypogs seemed to be afraid of us…they will run away from anything…thinking back on it, they kind of remind me of…me…

I was so enticed at watching these small creatures swim around that I almost forgot the kind of danger I was in…until I saw a two black orbs pop up from the water in the distance. Then another pair rose from the opposite side of me…then another behind us. Two more pairs popped in front of us. Bulbmin didn't notice them because he didn't have my inferred vision.

"Stop!" I said in a loud, scared whisper, "Don't move!"

Bulbmin stopped abruptly. Terrified, it moved its eyestalks to face me and said "…What do you see?"

"Shhh…Look over there to the left…ya see those two black orbs, glimmering?"

Taking much longer to spot them than I did, Bulbmin finally spotted them. "What are they?"

"…They're eyestalks…" was my answer.

"…of what?"

Pausing a moment to recall what Olimar referred to them as, I replied "…hermit crawmads."

The hermit crawmads eyestalks began to sway as if caught in a light breeze…or ready to strike at any second.

Looking around, Bulbmin said "We're boxed in!"

I remembered fighting these creatures on land before, and I also recalled the battle strategy Olimar used to defeat them. I whispered "Don't move until I tell you…I've got a plan."

"Let's hope you do, 'cause I sure don't!" whispered a terrified Bulbmin.

Suddenly there was an enormous explosion of water and five of what looked like giant hermit crabs without shells charged at us with tremendous speed, parting the water as they went with their enormous, bone-crushing claws.

"Wait…"

Charging at us from every direction, it seemed hopeless. Bulbmin was even shaking violently.

"Wait…"

When the hermit crawmads were about forty paces away from us, I screamed, "NOW! Run strait as fast as you can!"

Bulbmin didn't hesitate. Running directly between two of them, just centimeters from their snapping claws, causing them to ram into each other, we had escaped. I looked back to see all five of them ram into each other in a frenzy. Dazed, they all crawled slowly and disappointedly back to their holes.

Breathing a sigh of relief from safely escaping that horrendous encounter, Bulbmin and I finally reached the opposite shore.

"You should be safe here for now, at least. What an ingenious plan! Where'd you learn that?"

Slightly blushing, I replied "Well…Olimar used that tactic against them once. If you don't move at the right moment, they will follow you as you run, instead of charging in a strait line."

"Nice! How's your arm?"

"Fine…I guess." After a few moments, I tried to end this conversation before a monster snuck up on us. "Look, I'll keep watch, you can get some rest."

"Now you listen here!" Bulbmin said in an almost demanding voice. "You're the one who should get some rest. I'm the one who's nocturnal, and you're hurt. I'll keep watch, you sleep."

Supposing that was final, there was no sense in arguing. As I lay, trying to sleep, a horrendous thought occurred to me that I couldn't push aside. What if Olimar never returns? He has other places he can go…I may have to survive many more nights than this…I could be stuck here for years!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Battle

00:00 (midnight) – I awoke to the sound of an explosion. Sitting bolt upright, I saw Bulbmin running toward me, terror struck. "We gotta get out of here! Now!"

Another small explosion rocked the earth. "What's going on?"

"They're…they're…Aaaaughhh!"

Suddenly, two monsters appeared out of the shadows. The first was what Olimar called a wollywog. It was as pale as a ghost, and had small, glowing red eyes. It was extremely fat and had four stubby legs sticking semi-uselessly out of its sides. Its only way to attack anything was to jump on top of them, crushing them underneath it.

The other was a gattling groink. The only way to describe it was a giant, metalic fish. Steam came out of the fins on its back, and its cannon mouth was sticking out of it…pointed in our direction. Stomping towards us, it made small popping noises as it walked.

Trying to scramble to my feet, I fell on my bad arm and couldn't get up. The wollywog saw this chance and jumped toward me at full speed. Hopping a whole two feet in the air, (and I'm only an inch tall, myself) it came down almost directly on top of me, crushing my lower half with a sickening crunch. I wailed in pain.

The wollywog sat on me for a second, then jumped a second time into the air. I heard two loud bangs. Looking toward the gattling groink, I watched fire its cannon at me twice. Rolling to the left, pretty much all I could do at this point, I barely escaped the explosions as two white orbs landed right where I was a second ago and detonated. The resulting shockwaves sent me flying. Landing with a thud, I looked up to see the wollywog coming in for a second round, and this time it wasn't going to miss.

At the last possible second, Bulbmin rushed in, picked me up and ran me over to a small rock wall, not far from where I was. However, when I looked, I saw that it wasn't Bulbmin…well, it was a bulbmin, but it wasn't the one I met earlier. I could tell in its eyes and the way its spots were arranged on its back. You can do the same thing with pikmin. "Stay here" it said, "Don't worry about us. We'll take care of those two."

"We?" I was a bit confused, until I saw what was coming out of the water. Hundreds of bulbmin were appearing. Bulbmin of all sizes, one's half my size to ones the size of boulders, were all attacking the monsters that threatened my existence. The last thing I saw before I passed out was an enormous swarm of green and red covering the gattling groink and the wollywog. Then I blacked out.

A/N: Well…that was short.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: This chapter is told by Olimar, not the white pikmin, in case anyone get's confused.

Chapter 6: Return

Day 43 – I was awakened by the sound of Louie's snores. That idiot! It's a wonder I can get any sleep at all…oh well…since I'm up, I might as well set the coordinates for tomorrows mission. I had originally planned to go to the Awakening Wood for a change of scenery, but something told me I should stay at the Perplexing Pond one more day. I shut my eyes and let my fingers do the typing. When I opened my eyes, the words "Course set for the Perplexing Pond" were flashing on the screen. I grinned. Maybe my instinct was right. Maybe there's more treasure there.

Daybreak – A loud bang indicated that we were landing. Decrepit old ship! Nothing at all like my good ol' S.S. Dolphin, which the President just _had_ to sell. It pains me to think about how much work I put into re-building that ship just to have it taken away from me…sniff…

The ship landed with a thud as the engines turned off. Louie sat bolt upright. Still half asleep, he picked up the lamp next to his bed and began to swing it like a baseball bat, screaming "C'mon! You want a piece of me, punk? Huh! Huh!"

Shaking my head in disgust, I said sarcastically, "We've landed, dumbass. Put the lamp down and get suited up."

"…I knew that. I was just testing you."

I rolled my eyes and sighed in disarray. I climbed into my cockpit and Louie, finally into his spacesuit, climbed into his. We were both immediately ejected. Tumbling to the ground, I stood up and brushed myself off. Louie, on the hand, had fallen flat on his face with a thud. Getting up, he looked around and asked, "Hey! Weren't we here just yesterday?"

"Yep. I have a feeling we're going to find something important here today."

The onions were in their usual spots in front of the ship. I walked under the blue onion and ordered one hundred of my pikmin out with a few beeps of my whistle. The first one came out of the side of the onion with a small pop and looked at me. Giving a small peep of assurance, it's flower almost spinning in excitement to see me, it slid down a leg of the onion, and ran over to my side. Ninety-eight more pops followed as ninety-eight more pikmin came to join me. Wait…I thought I called one hundred? Pikmin will not travel to the surface in groups of more than 100, so there must be one missing.

Checking my radar, I noticed a small white dot floating in water not far from where I was. (My radar is able to track locations of pikmin as well as give me a layout of the terrain) Something's wrong…white pikmin can't swim…

Calling Louie over, I rushed to its location. Water splashed at my sides as I waded into the middle of the pond. I was surprised to see no monsters around. When I got a few feet from it, I gasped and sped to its side.

It was a very sad sight. A half dead, white pikmin was floating there. There was an enormous gash down its shoulder, and its legs were sticking out at odd angles. It was sickening. I was utterly shocked to see it breathing. Gently picking it up, I rushed back to the shore, past a puzzled Louie. It opened its ruby red eyes just a slit, and waved its leaf at me, which looked as if it was half eaten; a sure sign that a pikmin was weak.

Returning to the ship, I instructed Pod, the A.I. in our ship, to tend to it. Reluctant at first, Pod finally agreed and sent me off.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Ok, this, unlike the previous chapter is told, once again, by the pikmin.

Chapter 7: Home

Time Unknown – When I came to, everything was dark. I was lying on something soft, so I really didn't want to get up yet. Reluctantly opening my eyes out of curiosity, I looked around at my unfamiliar surroundings.

I was in a small, circular chamber with two beds, one of which I was lying on, and all sorts of mechanical devices lining the walls. The mattresses of the beds were large enough to fit ten pikmin! My arm had a cloth around it and my legs were bound. (Olimar: Okay, I must interject. I never tied his legs together; I just put casts on them. Pikmin just don't know what casts are) A loud mechanical voce startled me.

"So, you've decided to join the living, eh?"

The lights went on. I was temporarily blinded. When my eyes adjusted, I saw a small orb with a tiny megaphone on it through which it was speaking. It's voice was the same as the triangular structure that usually follows us into caves, the one Olimar calls "Pod".

"How're ya feelin'?"

"…Pain…"

"You should consider yourself lucky!" Pod said, happily "You pulled the impossible! You survived nightfall!"

?…Was this guy kidding? Was I still alive? …I cannot believe that just hit me…

"How long have I been out?" I asked

"'Bout three days."

"Wha-" I couldn't finish my sentence, because at that very moment, there was a loud clank and Olimar popped in.

He cheered at seeing me awake. Wow…this guy really cares. Olimar removed the braces on my legs and took me outside. Yeah…it's definitely bigger on the inside, somehow.

I was ordered back into the ship through a small hole that is use by purple and white pikmin to enter and exit their living quarters. Upon crawling in, I was greeted warmly by everyone else in the ship. Then they launched question after question about how I survived. It was invigorating. I'm still asking myself some of those questions! Everyone is way too thrilled with this…but I don't care.


	8. Epilouge

Epilogue: Gone but not forgotten

The celebrations of my return lasted for many days. Eventually, I met up with Bulbmin again in a cave known as "Submerged Castle". I was the only white on the team because no one else knew how to swim…well…not well, but I could get to where I was going…eventually. After many months of adventuring, I soon had to watch Olimar and Louie leave. It was a sad sight to see them go. I doubt many of us will survive without his guidance. After a long goodbye, I soon returned to the place where I was born, a cave called White Flower Garden. Moving through each level, I went slowly and carefree, not even bothering with the monsters that were stalking me the whole way, for I was about forty times faster than they were. I at last reached my destination. Eyeing the large white flower in the center of the room, I had a sudden urge to hop into it. Getting as far back as I could for a running start, I made a running leap and landed directly in the center of the bloom. Its pedals closed around me and I gave a small squeal of fright. Then, I blacked out.

When I awoke, everything around me was dark. Not the scary kind, but a nice, warm darkness. I was back in the safe earth. My arms and legs had become roots, and the top of my head was just sticking out of the ground. It was nice here. I decided to wait here for our leader's return. I had nowhere else to go. I'd be patient.

_End_

A/N: And so ends it! If you actually read this far, congrats. Tell me what you thought. I don't think many will get to this point, so thanks for reading.


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